Home Maker: Declare Your Dev Tools in a Makefile
A developer's machine accumulates tools fast. A Rust CLI you compiled last year, a Python formatter installed via `uv`, a language server pulled from npm, a terminal emulator from a curl script, a Go binary built from source. Each came from a different package manager, each with its own install incantation you half-remember. I wanted a way to declare what I need without adopting a complex system like Nix or Ansible just for a single laptop. The result was a plain old Makefile. I wrote a short post on using Make (along with a tiny bash script and fzf) to create a searchable, single-command…
In plain words
Home Maker is a Makefile-based approach for declaring and managing developer tools across multiple package managers. It allows developers to create a searchable, single-command registry for local dev tools—combining Make with a bash script and fzf—without requiring complex systems like Nix or Ansible. The tool is designed for developers who accumulate tools from various sources and want a simpler way to track and install their local environment dependencies.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
A developer's machine accumulates tools fast. A Rust CLI you compiled last year, a Python formatter installed via `uv`, a language server pulled from npm, a terminal emulator from a curl script, a Go binary built from source. Each came from a different package manager, each with its own install incantation you half-remember. I wanted a way to declare what I need without adopting a complex system like Nix or Ansible just for a single laptop. The result was a plain old Makefile. I wrote a short post on using Make (along with a tiny bash script and fzf) to create a searchable, single-command registry for all your local dev tools. It’s not a new framework or a heavy tool—just a simple way to organize the package managers we already use. If you're tired of losing track of your local environment, you might find it useful.
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